Posts Tagged ‘Chile’

The Calbuco volcano in the Los Lagos region of Chile erupted for the first time after 54 years of inactivity, forcing the evacuation of an area of 20 kilometers around the volcano. Some 5,000 residents of the area have been evacuated from locations such as Chamisa, Lago Chapo and Route 225.

Marisa Tobella Pinto CE2MT, Director of Emergency Communications, said he advised that 7050 kHz is in use for emergency nets, with the alternative frequencies being 14250 kHz and 3738 kHz.

Winds are pushing the plume of ash towards Argentina where the authorities are also putting emergency arrangements in place and some flights have been cancelled fearing that flying could be dangerous.

The following is a translation of a Spanish language TV report on the amateur radio response in Chile.

As parts of earthquake-hit Chile again this week were shaken by severe aftershocks there has been further news of the role of radio amateurs, including them being a highly sought after reliable source of information.

A television news report describes them as a collection of dedicated ham radio operators scattered across the country, proving to be an information lifeline during the recent devastating earthquake, tsunami and its aftermath.

Interviewed was RCCH Secretary Alejandro Jara CE3JWF and Director of SER (Servicio de Emergencia de Radioaficionados) Rafael Riesco CE3FFR, the Spanish language report, translated to English said “They were on air within 10 to 15 minutes of the quake – where possible. ”

“While telephones and the internet largely failed, many of the radio operators have back-up power and were able to provide vital lines of communication, picked up by National Radio Chile and rebroadcast, giving status of various affected areas.”

The report added that, “Even where internet still worked, gossip social networking pages could not be trusted, exaggerating and getting things wrong.”

“Ham radio operators of the Radio Club of Chile are more honourable, dedicating many hours of their lives to their radio networks and broadcasting, in some cases, from damaged equipment, even after the collapse of antennas. Thanks to them – Save Chile in a crisis!”

“The ham operator callsign enabled national radio and authorities to trust the information as members of the club have ‘honorable’ status, a great asset in a crisis where messages can get distorted through normal communiciation channels, if available.”

The report went further to say “Claims that ham radio is dying were put to rest as these operators provided such vital communication links, and the operators are voluntary and definitely don’t want to be paid.”

When the massive earthquake struck early February 27, the Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicios (RECNA) and RCCH networks worked in coordination with the army handling information about locating missing persons, condition of roads and support for the emergency administration.

The magnitude-8.8 earthquake resulted in more than 720 deaths, 1.5 million destroyed homes along with damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The RCCH has expressed its thanks to the world’s radio amateurs for keeping emergency frequencies free during their nation’s time of need. All previously announced HF frequencies are not currently required for emergency communications.

The following information was received from Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator.

Dr. Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P, IARU Region 2 Emergency Coordinator has release the use of the emergency frecuencies based on information received from Dr. Dino Besomi, CE3PG,President of Radio Club de Chile.

We thank the world radio amateur community for their support in keeping emergency frequencies clear during the past days.

Updates on the Chile Earthquake are available here. Note that, there is much less focus on Emergency Communications than the reports for Haiti. Most likely because the Chile government has been more involved in the needs assesment on the ground and defining their own requirements.

The following information was received from Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator.

The following information has been relayed from Dr. Galdino Besomi,
CE3PG, President of the Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) by Jorge Sierra,
LU1AS, Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator of Area G in IARU Region 2.
The situation in Chile is very complex due to continuing aftershocks in
the area. RECNA and RCCH networks are working in coordination with the Army of Chile handling information about locating missing persons, condition of roads and support for the emergency administration.

The frequencies that must be kept clear are:

40 meters: 7050, 7095
80 meters: 3738
20 meters: 14200

Other frequencies could be in use, especially in 40 meters. Before using
any frequency it`s very important to make sure it`s free.

The following information was received from Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator.

The following is a summary of the information received from Reinaldo Leandro President of IARU Region 2 and Jorge Sierra, LU1AS who is the Region 2 Area co-ordinator covering Chile.

Reinaldo talked by phone with Doctor Galdino Besomi CE3PG Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) president.

After the earthquake struck, an Emergency Net was activated across the whole country, first on VHF and then in HF. All the board of the Chile National Society and local club members are actively working in close coordination with civil and military authorities.

Three days after the earthquake the request for news about people in the affected countryside areas is one the main activity occupying the radio amateurs.

Jorge confirms that there are several frequencies in 40 meters receiving traffic to try and locate people from stations in Chile and Argentina.

They most activity is on 7050, 7060, 7088, 7095 and others and stations are monitoring these frequencies.

Almost all the traffic heard is related to locating people, but it is not easy to find them because the situation in the small towns near Santiago is very difficult, they don`t have electricity, telephone lines or cell phones; emergency communications stations are running on batteries.

As you may have seen on news broadcasts, the airport at Santiago is again operative but with some restrictions. The government asked other countries in the region not to send help until they could review the situation and ask for their exact needs.

The following information was received from Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator.

The Tsunami warnings for the Pacific Ocean have been lifted. There was a Tsunami with waves from 1-2m which crossed the Ocean to Japan. Measured wave heights can be seen at
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.28.093706.txt

Information received from Jorge,LU1AS confirms the request to keep the following frequencies clear in the area;
3738, 3750, 7050, 7060, 7095, 14200, 14300 and 14350kHz.

I am now receiving information that the local emergency communications group “Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicio (RECNA)” is active and some emergency communications activities are taking place, mostly with Argentina. Jorge Sierra, LU1AS who is the IARU-R2 Area Emergency Co-Ordinator is asking that the following frequencies are kept clear;

7095, RECNA Control Station
Emergency Traffic has also been heard on 7050, 7060 and 7095 with stations trying to contact Chile seeking information about people.

Chile is also known to use the following frequencies for emergency communication;
3750, 3738, 7050, 7095, 14200, 14350, 21200, 21350, 28300, 28500kHz.

Since a Tsunami warning is in effect for some countries in the Pacific it would also be useful to keep IARU Region 2 and Region 3 Centre of Activity frequencies clear in case other countries become involved, these are;

Japanese state broadcaster NHK is indicating that if a Tsunami was to affect that country it would hit about 22 hours after the initial earthquake. Australia has issues Tsunami warnings for parts of their country. We should know soon if a wide area tsunami has been created, a prediction of arrival times can be found at
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.27.154316.txt
Check the main site of http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ for updates.